We’re just days away from this year’s New York Comic Con at the Javits Center. And while we’ll be providing our normal podcast interviews and website wrap-up coverage, we wanted to share our thoughts beforehand of some stuff we’re excited to see (or not see since we won’t be there all weekend).
The Fantastic Four: First Steps immersive pop-up experience
First up, just blocks from the Javits, Marvel is bringing recreated sets from First Steps to the Hudson Mercantile. Those willing to wait in line will be able to see the FF’s kitchen, living room and take a photo with H.E.R.B.I.E. I’m a sucker for this kind of thing when it’s a flick I liked, and I liked First Steps. I’ll keep you posted on whether we get in. You can give it a shot from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 9-11 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 12.
— Adam Reck
Cold Slither LIVE!
OK, this one I know I won’t be there for, but if I was around Saturday night, I’d definitely be going to see Cold Slither LIVE. Name doesn’t sound familiar? Maybe you aren’t aware that there is an actual group of real-life people who dress up as Zartan and his fellow Cobra villains the Dreadnoks and have a full-length hard rock album full of in-character songs that are pretty good actually? Tickets are still available, but if you miss them, check out the album. I’m serious!
— Adam Reck
Cold Slither-Cybertronic Spree tour when?
— Dan Grote
Marvel + Mass Appeal premiere Sanford Greene’s Legend Has It through Whatnot
Speaking of music, Marvel is teaming up with Mass Appeal to deliver a hip-hop superhero series written by Brandon Thomas and drawn by Sanford Greene called Legend Has It. The cast stars redesigns of some of hip-hop’s finest including Big L, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Nas, Raekwon and Slick Rick. The comic is being launched at the Whatnot booth on Friday with an evening panel featuring Nas himself. Will everyone be able to get a copy? That remains to be seen.
— Adam Reck
DC & AEW team up for DC K.O.
Fans of wrasslin’ know there’s only one mainstream, nationally televised pro wrestling outfit worth keeping your eyes on these days, and that’s AEW. So for DC Comics fans, it comes as a treat to see that AEW characters are going to battle DC’s in the upcoming DC K.O. If you’re headed to NYCC, this means you’re going to see some of your favorite wrestlers like John Moxley, Orange Cassidy and Willow Nightingale side by side with comics creators Steve Orlando, Lucas Meyer and Travis Smith starting with a panel on Friday and a signing on Saturday.
— Adam Reck
Tokidoki trading cards and … cookies? from Kayou
I’ve been a fan of Tokidoki over the years, first because my daughter collected the blind bag collectibles growing up, and also because they make sick snapback hats. This year, card-maker Kayou is launching several new brands of cards, including Tokidoki, and the promotion includes Tokidoki-themed cookies each afternoon at their booth. The downside of which is that you will then definitely eat said cookie, but I’m sure I can photodocument beforehand if I get my mitts on one.
— Adam Reck
Tiny Onion presents Department of Truth’s 5-year anniversary with Hunky Mothman
Tiny Onion is set to celebrate the fifth anniversary of James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds’ conspiracy theory epic Department of Truth with a panel Thursday and signings at the Tiny Onion booth all weekend. And what better harbinger of another great five years of crazies and cryptids than an exclusive “bootleg” version of 2022’s DoT #15 featuring a musclebound Mothman in the style of Weekly World News. Check out Tiny Onion’s Instagram for more info on their booth, signings and panels throughout the weekend.
— Adam Reck
X-Men ‘Shadows of Tomorrow’ panel
On Friday, we’ll get our first glimpse at the 2026 post-Age of Revelation X-Men lineup. We already know about a few of the books that will continue (Uncanny X-Men, X-Men) and some new and rebranded solo books (Cyclops, Wade Wilson: Deadpool, Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant and Psylocke: Ninja). Always tricky business highlighting a new era without spoiling the current one, but guiding us into the new season of X-books will be editors Nick Lowe and Tom Brevoort and creators Jed McKay, Ryan Stegman and Ben Percy, with moderator and Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski.
— Adam Reck
Z2 launches Kool Keith comic at a dispensary
I want to be very clear that I am not going to this one, but the wackiest promo email I got in the lead-up to the con was geared specifically for those of you who, shall we say, partake? Z2 is launching a Kool Keith graphic novel drawn by The Pedestrian co-creator Sean Von Gorman at exactly 4:20 p.m. Thursday. This will not be at the Javits Center, and if you do want to pick up a copy and meet Kool Keith in person, you will have to go to the Manhattan branch of NYC BUD.
— Adam Reck
Meet Ignition Press
We love when a new publisher comes out swinging, and Ignition Press appears to be doing just that this fall with buzzworthy launch series like Voyeur by Leah Williams and David Baldeon and Roots of Madness by Stephanie Williams and Letizia Cadonici. Ignition will be at booth HB902 in Artist Alley with creator signings by folks like Cullen Bunn, Baldeon, Declan Shalvey, Williams and Tim Seeley; con-exclusive variants and a fun gachapon machine filled with stickers, pins and other goodies.
— Dan Grote
Artist Alley
NYCC is a great opportunity to talk to your favorite creators and thank them for a story they helped make that you enjoyed, and buy some merch from them to support them directly. Here’s a sampling of creators we’re looking forward to seeing in the basement of the Javitz: Al Ewing, Benjamin Percy, Caspar Wijngaard, Chris Claremont, Chris Condon, Dani, Daniel Warren Johnson, Dave Baker, David Pepose, Declan Shalvey, Fabian Nicieza, Gerry Duggan, Hayden Sherman, Jackson Lanzing, Javier Rodriguez, Jed MacKay, John J. Pearson, Kyle Starks, Meghan Fitzmartin, Morgan Beem, Sanford Greene, Stephanie Williams, Tom Scioli, Tini Howard and Tyler Boss.
— Dan Grote
Seeing YOU!
Yeah, yeah, I’m a big ol’ cheeseball. But look, I don’t go to New York Comic Con to hear from the stars of Dexter: New Blood or to scan a QR code for exclusive Crunchyroll content or to get in a virtual queue to get into a longer physical queue to enter a lottery to look at a Funko POP. (Y’HEAR THAT, REEDPOP DATA MINERS? STOP ASKING!) I do it to run into folks I may only know from liking their posts on Bluesky or listening to their podcasts or having them on mine. When I get that feeling, I need social healing, the kind sharing a space with tens of thousands of other people, all of whose feet ache from walking around in circles for hours, can provide. So let’s exchange a knowing nod of familiarity and a “Hey, how’s it going?” It’s better than any vinyl sticker, enamel pin or super-porny variant cover.
— Dan Grote
Adam Reck is the cartoonist behind Bish & Jubez as well as the co-host of Battle Of The Atom. Follow him @adamreck.bsky.social.
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
